Pressure vessel



A. E. DOUYARD April 19, 1960 PRESSURE VESSEL 3 Sheets-Sheet. 1

Filed March l1 1955 NVENTR. /7f7a/7 van? April 19, 1960 A. E. DOUYARD PRESSURE VESSEL 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March ll, 1955 April 19, 1960 A. E. DOUYARD PRESSURE VESSEL 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed March ll, 1955 Irina,...

llilllll INVENTOR. /ff/gaf if auvydf ,yrfaF/VZ/S.

lnited States Rljatent PRESSURE VESSEL Arthur E. Douyard, Royal Oak, Mich., assignor to Chrysler Corporation, Highland Park, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Application March 11, 1955, Serial No. 493,591

s claims. (ci. zzo-.3)

The invention relates to an improved pressure vessel having laminated wall structure and to a method of fabricating such a pressure vessel. l

It is a principal object of this invention to provide a vessel capable of storing fluids under high pressure and to provide such a vessel that -has a minimum of shattering characteristics. This is accomplished by providing a lami* nated wall structure for the pressure vessel which isformed by rolling up a sheet of metal to form a wall structure of plural layers of material and then applying lheader structures to the respective exposed ends of the wall structure to define a closed container.

The laminated wall structure may be made of -any deto a point within their elastic limit to absorb more of the be absorbed by a solid container of the same weight and material. There would, therefore, be occasions where the laminated wall structure would successfully prevent complete penetration of the wall Iby a projectile especially if the projectile had a reduced velocity as a result of its prior penetration of some other object. Similarly, the laminated wall structure could, in many cases, successfully resist penetration by iiying particles of adjacently stored pressure Vessels or miscellaneous flying parts such as might be encountered in aircraft subjected to gun tire.A

4 A further advantage of the use of a laminated wall structure resides in the fact that if the vessel does explode the laminations will provide fragments of less mass than would be provided by an exploding vessel having solid walls.

It is a further object of the invention to provide spacer means between adjacent layers of the sheet metal forming the wall structure of the vessel. This spacer means Will permit deflection of the sheet metal layers to occur in stages and thus further improve the non shattering characteristics of the pressure vessel. The spacer means may take many `forms, some of which are yieldable material, a woven material, or projections struck up from the sheet metal.

It is an additional object of this invention to provide an improved method of fabrication of a pressure vessel having the desirable characteristics described herein'.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a partial horizontal section of one form of my improved pressure vessel;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a partial horizontal section of a pressure vessel similar to that illustrated in Fig. l and having laminated end headers;

Fig, 4 is a partial horizontal section of a pressure vessel having a layer of woven material interposed between adjacent layers of sheet metal;

Fig. 5 is a vertical section taken on the line 5--5 of Fig. 4;

ice

6 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a portion of the wall structure of Fig. 4;

Fig. 7 is a partial horizontal section of a modified,

form of pressure vessel;

Fig. 8 is a vertical section taken on the line 8-8 of Fig. 7; and

`from the container 10. The particular location of the spud 22 forms no part of this invention and it will be noted that in Fig. 3 the spud 22 is located in the side Wall structure 12.

The side wall structure 12 is formed of a single sheet of metal having a leading edge 24 and a trailing edge 26. The sheet of metal is rolled into a cylindrical form to create wall structure of plural layers of sheet metal and the leading edge 24 and trailing edge 26 are respectively Welded to adjacent layers of the sheet of metal thereby providing a cylindrical Wall structure defining an internal cavity 2S. End headers 14 and 16 are illustrated as havj ing a hemispherical contour altho it is to be understood that they could be ilat or have any desired conguration j Vprovided that they present a surface which will register energy of a colliding object such as a projectile than would with the exposed ends of the wall structure .l2 to accommodate bonding of the headers 14 and 16 to the wall structure |12 at 18 and 20.

In Fig. 3 a pressure vessel is illustrated that corresponds p p to the illustration of Fig. l with `but two exceptions. The

' adjacent layer of the sheet metal.

exceptions are that the Spud 22 is illustrated as penetrating the side Wall structure rather than an end header and that the end headers, which are designated by the numerals 14 and 16', are provided with a laminated construction formed by superimposing plural layers of sheet metal on each other and forming them to the desired shape. The end headers 14 and 16 are Welded to the wall structure 12 at 18 and 20 in the manner described above in connection with Fig. l and the leading and V-trailing edges 24 and 26 are respectively welded to an The weld at 24 should be adequate to provide a gas tight joint.

In Figs. 4, 5 and 6 a modiiied form of pressure vessel is illustrated in which a layer of spacer material 30 is .interposed between layers of sheet metal in a wall structure 12 and in end headers 14 and 16". The material 30 is illustrated in Figs. 4, 5 and 6 as a Wolven material stituted therefor.

such as screen although it is to be understood that other spacer materials such as bre glass cloth could be sub- Fig. 6 is an enlarged View of a section of Wall structure designated by the circle 6 in'Fig. 4.

The wall structure 12 of Figs. 4, 5 and 6 is formed of a single sheet of material having a leading edge 24l andping will leave an outer portion of the sheet material exposed to form an outer surface 36 of the side wall structure 12". The leading edge 24 and the trailing edge 26" are welded to adjacent layers of the sheet material. The'.

A capped, threaded litting or spud Weld at 24 should be adequate to form a gas tight joint and end header structures 14" and 16" are welded to the exposed ends of the wall structure 12 at `18" and 20".

. Theend headers 14" and 16l of Fig. 4 are formed'of plural layers of sheet material and Vspacer material 30 Vand material, and then forming them to the ydesired contour such as a hemispherical contour.

In Figs. 7, 8 and 9 a modiiied form of pressure vessel 10 is illustrated. The pressure vessel 10 includes a cylindrical side wall structure 12' and end headers it and which are Welded to the exposed ends of the wall structure 12' at 18 and 20".

Fig. 9 illustrates a portion of the wall structure 12' which comprises an enlargement of the wall structure as indicated by the circle 9 in Fig. 7. This form of the invention resembles the form described in Lconnection with Fig. 1 with the exception that a layer of sheet metal has a plurality of bumps or depressions 3,2 formed therein and the sheet metal is .rolled as described in connection with Fig. .l to form a wall structure of a plurality of layers of sheet metal with the bumps 42 serving Vto space adjacent layers of the sheet metal from each other. The sheet ymetal has a leading edge 24" and a trailing edge 26 which are welded respectively to adjacent layers of the sheet metal to define an internal cavity 28. The weld at 24 should be adequate to provide a .gas tight joint.

As mentioned above the end headers 14 Vand 16'.

are welded'at 18 and 20 to the expo-sed ends of the laminated wall structure 12"'. .if desired, Ythe end headers 14" and 15 may be formed o-f laminations .resembling the Wall structure 12' of Fig. 7.

The pressure vessels described herein are formed by `a method which has been briefly referred to, but which involves the steps offwrapping a continuous sheet of metal to form a wail structure of plural layers of the sheet material; respectively bonding a portion yof the inner and outer layers of sheet of metal to adjacent Vlayers thereof; and bonding the endjheaders to the exposed endsof the wall structure to form a closed container capable of withstanding high internal pressures.

In the case of the Fig. 4, and6 form of the invention there is one departure from the method described -in the preceding paragraph in that the layer of spacer material 30 is assembled with the sheet of metal and the superimposed laye'r of spacer material and Vsheet `metal are then ,y

wrapped to form a laminated wall structure of alternate layers of sheet metal and spacer material. -End headers are then bonded to the exposed ends of the Wall structure. The sheet metal used in forming the device of Figs. 7, 8 and 9 must, of course, be provided with indentations or spacer means prior to wrapping the sheet metal to form the laminated wall structure.

l claim: v

1. A vessel for storing fluid under pressure comp-rising laminated side wall structure and lirst and second end .headers cooperating to denne a closed container,

Y 4 'said side wall structure being formed of a single sheet of metal and a layer of woven material bonded thereto to denne a wall material, said lwall material being continuously Wrapped to form a wall structure of plural alternate layers of sheet metal and woven material with an inner layer of said sheet metal dening the inner surface of said container and an outer layer of said sheet metal defining the outer surface of said container, said inner layer of said sheet metal being bonded to the ad jacent layer thereof and said outer layer of sheet'rrietal4 being bonded tothe adjacent layer thereof, `and said headers being welded to the exposed ends' of said wall structure to define a closed r'container capable of Withstanding high internal pressures.l

2. A vessel for `storingfluid under pressure comprising side wall structure and -rst and second end header structures cooperating to dene a closed container, each of said structures being formed of a plurality of lami-nations,

said laminations comprising alternate layers of sheet ina' terial and screen material, the laminations of said side wall structure being `arranged in continuously'wrapped relationship withV an inner `layer of said sheet material dening the inner surface of vsaid container and an outer layer of said sheet material deiining the outer surface of said container, said inner layer of said sheet material being bonded to an adjacent layer thereof and said'outer layer of sheet material being bonded to 'an adjacent layer thereof, and said header structures being bonded yto the exposed ends of said wall 4st-ructure to dene a closed container capable of withstanding high internal pressures.

- 3. A vessel for storing huid under pressure `comprising side wall structure and first and second end header structnres cooperating to denne a closed container, each of said structures 'being formed of a plurality of iaminations, said laminations comprising alternate layers of sheet metal and Vscreen material with said sheetfmetal-having at least one surface bonded vto said screen Vmaterial over substantially the entire registering'snrfaces of said sheet :metal yand screen material, the laminations of said side Wall structure being arranged in Vcontinuously wrapped relationship with an inner layer of said sheet metal defining Y the inner surface vof said container and an outer layer of said sheet metal defining the outer surface of said container, said innerlayer of said sheet metal being bonded to the adjacent layer thereof and said outer layer of sheet metal being bonded to the 'adjacent layer thereof, and said headers being welded to the exposed ends of of said wall structure to define a closed container capable of withstanding high internal pressures.

References Cited inthe tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATIENTS Re.22,25l Stresau Ian. 12j, 1943 159,433 Matthews Feb'. 2, 1875 1,453,516 Payson May `l, 1923 1,688,762 Steenstrup Oct. 23, 1928 1,927,255 Brown Sept. 19, .1933 2,179,057 Schuetz Nov. 7, 1939 2,331,504 Raymond Oct. l2, v1943 2,635,330 Fentress Apr. 21., .1953 

